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of the country was looking for us, so it was hard going. The captured helicopter was shot down. There were so many injured and some dead that the only two uninjured SAS soldiers decided to move on, with me of course. In fact it was hopeless; the searchers had spread out for miles and were approaching us in three directions. We’d no chance of escape but they as soldiers in uniform would only be arrested, perhaps made to stand in front of cameras and admit what they had done, before being sent home or exchanged. I had no such option. I’d have been returned to my owner if I was lucky, otherwise I’d have been given to the searching soldiers for the night. Either way I would never have gone home so they decided we should split up. They would head them off while I hid - until the searchers past my hiding place - then I’d move on. I was buried and breathed through a straw while the SAS soldiers diverted the searchers. They stuck a radio in my ear and told me over the radio when the searchers had passed. I lay there ages, my hand around a hand grenade in case I was found. If that had happened I’d have pulled the pin. With twenty or so miles to go, a map and compass, I’d not much of a problem navigating, but I could only travel at night and hid during the day.”
    She again hesitated for a moment. Now was the time to change her story of how she finally ended up at the cove, in order to protect Martha, a local lady who’d helped and looked after her while on the run in the Lebanon. “I was caught by two conscripts, we had a fight and I was injured when one threw his knife at me. I’d no real problem as my self-defence training meant I could down them quite easily, but it was a stupid mistake to get myself injured. After that it became more difficult with the loss of blood. I fell into a ravine hiding from a searchers helicopter and banged my head. But further on I found an abandoned farm and managed to get water out of a well and clean myself up. There were still searchers everywhere so I hid, but I realised that if I waited too long, you’d be gone and I’d have close on a hundred mile walk to get to a border. Anyway all of a sudden the search was off, why I don’t know, but it was. The last six miles were simple, I was in pain yes, but it was easier without having to hide all the time.”
    The room was silent as they all tried to take in what she’d been through to get out, then the Medical Officer spoke. “What about the injuries, Karen? When I checked them over for you last night, I was very impressed in the way they had been stitched. Who was it who stitched them up for you?”
    She looked at him indignantly. “I did,” she lied, as in reality it was Martha who had stitched the wounds.
    He shook his head in wonder. “I’m impressed, but I don’t know how you had the nerve, Karen; it must have been very painful?”
    “Tell me about it, in fact it took me the best part of a day, with a few swigs of whisky from a bottle I’d found in the farmhouse, besides pouring some on the wound, and even then I nearly passed out,” she replied, hoping her explanation sounded feasible to the medical officer.
    However, it was not the medical officer who spoke but the captain.
    “It’s a fascinating story, Karen,” the Captain said as he leaned across and refilled her empty glass of brandy. “You’re certainly a very resourceful young lady.”
    “She is, Captain, we should get her to sign up,” the First Officer added.
    Karen raised her hands. “Oh no, this is it for me. I just want to go home, find a boyfriend and do what normal girls of my age do. From now on I’ll leave the soldiering to the professionals.”
    “That’s a pity. You’ve displayed some remarkable skills. But you could be right. The services are more a vocation these days and require commitment and working as a team. You sound a loner rather than a team player,” the Captain replied.
    “Tell me, Karen, what sort of lad are you looking for in